European Technology M and A Boom
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Is the dotcom crash behind us? Last year European technology merger and acquistions amounted to $143bn over 2,405 deals. An increase of 69% over 2003. The figures are from the European Technology Acquisition Review. Differences with 2000 mount up. First the size of deals in general is much smaller. Also the deals tend to be on a sounder footing. Regent Associates, who carried out the research said " current activity is builtd on solid foundations with carefully thought-out strategic and financial metrics." The UK was the most active market. 27% all transactions were in the UK in 2003. Scandinavia came second with 18%. Content and media deals doubled and and the IT Services sector saw 719 deals. In 2003 there were only 17 deals worth more than $1bn. Cash is now king, compared to rush of paper deals during the dotcom hype. A wall of cash is currently held by the top 10 US technology companies. European venture capital is thought to have $39bn. "If the market will not deliver strong organic growth, then the rapidly growing improving cash positions of many leading suppliers will be used to fuel growth by acquisition," said Regent Associates' chairman Peter Rowell.
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Similar Areas Mergers and Acquisitions Items Selected Books Keywords European mergers and acquisition European Technology Acquisition Review mergers and acquisition markets
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